Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) is a common practice in the formation of integrated circuits. Typically, CMP is used for the planarization of semiconductor wafers. CMP takes advantage of the synergetic effect of both physical and chemical forces for the polishing of wafers. It is performed by applying a load force to the back of a wafer while the wafer rests on a polishing pad. Both the polishing pad and the wafer are rotated while a slurry containing both abrasives and reactive chemicals is passed therebetween. CMP is an effective way to achieve global planarization of wafers.